Snapshots
by MackenziesMomma
Summary: Four times that Evan Lorne and Laura Cadman encounter each other. Written for the AU challenge over at Major explosion on Livejournal in response to the prompt: "Single parents meeting for the first time."
1. Encounters of the Sandy Kind

**Title:** Snapshots  
**Fandom:** Stargate  
**Rating:** G  
**Genres: ** Fluffy, fluff, fluff (oh did I mention fluff?)  
**Summary:**Four times that Evan Lorne and Laura Cadman meet each other.

**Pairings:** Lorne/Cadman (pre-ship), John/Liz, Rodney/Chuck  
**Disclaimer: ****I do NOT own any of the recognizable characters herein. They belong to MGM, SciFi and Gekko or their respective owners. The only thing I do own is the ideas and the giraffe keeper.**

**A/N:** This is a response to clwilson2006's "Kid fic- Single Parents meeting for the first time" AU prompt over at the major_explosion community on Livejournal. This is Lorne/Cadman, AU, kid!fic. Hope you like it clwilson2006 . ;)

Also a huge thanks go out to the lovely RowenaR for looking this over and also pingulotta for helping me to name it.

**Encounters of The Sandy Kind**

Sitting on a park bench Laura watched Nathan playing in the sandbox. It was a warm spring day and she'd been tired of trying to keep him entertained in their apartment. At four and a half Nathan was a rambunctious little boy, he had sand brown hair and green eyes with a scar on his right eyebrow from the time he'd jumped off their counter last year.

She smiled as she watched him playing with a little girl that looked to be around his age with blonde pigtails and brown eyes. Suddenly the girl picked up her bucket and dumped it over Nathan, making him scream.

On her feet in an instant she quickly crossed the grass to the sandbox and started to brush Nathan off.

"Shhh…it's okay Nate, you're okay." She soothed him, glancing up when she noticed someone standing next to her.

"I am so sorry. Normally she doesn't act like this." The man said, looking mortified.

Standing up, Laura couldn't help but notice how blue his eyes were. "It's fine, they're just kids…"

Quickly he shook his head. "No, we've been trying to teach her manners." He said, glancing down at the girl with a soft smile. "Emily Jane tell…." he trailed off, glancing at Laura lost.

"Nathan" she helpfully supplied, musing to herself that this must be one of the 'park dads' she'd heard the other moms talking about.

"Tell Nathan you're sorry for dumping sand on him." He said, gruffly.

Emily scuffed the dirt before looking at Nathan, "Sowwy I dumped sand on you."

"It's okay. Wanna build a castle?" Nathan said with a grin at her, before handing her a shovel.

The man nodded at the little girl when she looked up at him. "It's okay you can play some more."

He smiled at Laura before heading over to the bench she'd been sitting on before. "Again, I am so sorry. I have no idea why she did that."

Sitting down next to him, Laura glanced at the kids before looking back at him. "Like I said, it's no big deal, kids will be kids…." She trailed off for a moment. "You know…I don't think I caught your name. I'm Laura and that's Nathan over there." She said with a grin.

Blushing slightly he stuck out a hand. "Evan. Evan Lorne and that's my daughter, Emily."

Taking his hand she shook it. "Well it's nice to meet you Evan."

Evan smiled at her as he dropped her hand. "So what brings you out to the park today?"

"The weather." Laura said with a laugh. "I'm tired of trying to entertain Nathan in our apartment as there's only so many things to do. What about you?"

"Oh…well it's my day off and I thought I'd spend some time with Emily." He said, glancing over at his daughter.

Laura frowned for a moment. "Day off on a Wednesday? What are you a teacher or something?" she asked with a smile.

Evan laughed, "Yeah actually I am. I teach Earth Science over at Dunbar High School. It's spring conferences and I got mine done yesterday. What about you? I mean why are you in a park on a Wednesday other than the weather?"

"I'm a dance teacher over at the DC Dance Collective." She replied, glancing over at Nathan again.

"Oh that's…" Evan sighed softly when his phone rang he pulled it out and glanced at the screen. "Mind if I take this?" he asked, standing up.

"Not a problem." Laura said, turning her attention to the kids. She couldn't help but hear snippets of his conversation that drifted back to her.

"At the park…meetings until 6….see you for dinner."

Checkin the time on her phone, she started to gather their things just as Evan walked back over.

"Leaving so soon?" He asked as he pocketed his cell phone.

"Yeah I gotta drop Nathan off with the sitter so I can get to my rehearsal." Laura said as she finished packing up things on the bench. "Come on Nate we gotta get going." She called to the little boy.

"Right. Rehearsal." Evan nodded, watching as she strode over to the sand box.

"But mommy I'm playing!" Nathan pouted at her as she picked up his toys.

"You know Rodney doesn't like it if mommy's late." She said, picking up the boy as he waved at Emily.

"Bye-Bye Emily!" He grinned at her as Laura carried him away.

"See you around sometime?" Evan called after her retreating form.

"Yeah sure!" Laura shot over her shoulder at him before disappearing around a bend in the trail.


	2. The Giraffe Brief

**The Giraffe Brief**

Evan glanced through the viewfinder of his camera before snapping the shot of Emily and Liz watching the penguins. He wouldn't know until later how these shots had turned out but he didn't care, sure he could use digital but he preferred using his wife's old film camera. He started to cross the sidewalk to where Emily was babbling on about the penguins when a flash of color at the corner of his eye stopped him. It was a little boy, that looked vaguely familiar, racing toward the penguins dragging his mom after him. Frowning he tried to remember where he knew them from, unable to place them for the moment he walked over and crouched down next to Emily, watching the penguins through the glass.

Glancing back he studied the trying to place her but failed.

"Hello? Anyone in there?" His sister-in-law Liz's cut into his thoughts, drawing him back to the present.

"Sorry…I was distracted for a second." He said apologetically.

Liz followed his gaze before smiling at him. "So…do you know her?" she asked curiously.

Evan sighed, shrugging slightly. "I think I do…but I can't place her." He replied.

"Well I'm sure it'll come to you." She said with a laugh, glancing at Emily. "If you're ready Emily said she wants to go feed the giraffes."

Evan glanced at his little girl, who reminded him more of his late wife every day. "So you want to go feed the giraffes, half-pint?" he asked with a grin.

"Yes! Giwaffes Rock!" she squealed as she raced away from the penguin display.

Lifting Emily up Evan watched as the giraffe used its lips and tongue to grab the food offered to it.

"Daddy it's lips tickle my fingers!" Emily squealed, making him grin.

After she was done feeding the giraffe he set her down and hovered nearby as she listened to the naturalist, Marlene her name tag read, share facts about the large mammals with a group of kids.

Glancing around his eyes landed on the red-head from the penguin exhibit. '_What was her name again?' _he mused to himself… _Lisa? Linda?_ _Laura!_ Her name was Laura! He finally remembered.

Suddenly a familiar voice cut through his thoughts from beside him, "Evan right?"

He turned and smiled at her, dimples peeking out, "Yeah, and you're Laura."

"We haven't seen you around the park…." She said off-handedly glancing over at Liz who'd joined Emily.

"Yeah, I've been a bit busy with the end of school." He said following her gaze. "Oh, uh, that's my sister-in-law Liz. Her husband is out of town and she suggested we bring Emily to see the penguins." He explained with a chuckle.

"What kind of work does your brother-in-law do?" Laura asked, studying Evan closely.

"John's a pilot in the Air Force. He flies C-17's out of Dover." Evan replied.

Laura was about to comment when her phone rang, sighing she pulled it out and glanced at the display with a grimace, stepping away she flipped the phone open. "Yeah what do you want, Rodney?" she answered in an exasperated tone, mouthing 'sorry' to Evan.

Evan tried not to eavesdrop but couldn't help but overhear her end of the conversation.

"Of course I remembered the show tonight. Remind Chuck that I'm dropping Nathan off at your apartment before the show, please?" sighing, she listened to the other man for another minute before flipping the phone shut again.

"Sorry…that was my stage manager." She explained, smiling at Evan as she walked back over to him.

"That sounded pretty heated." Evan said, chuckling.

"Nah. Rodney is a complete genius when it comes to his job, but when it comes to people he can be a bit dense. Sometimes I wonder what Chuck ever sees in him." She replied laughing.

"Ah, okay." Evan said glancing at his watch. "Crap. I didn't realize how late it was. Excuse me but we gotta run."

"See you around?" Laura asked watching as he motioned Liz and Emily over.

"Yeah sure." Evan said before the three of them disappeared into the crowd.


	3. Tuesday's Tiff

**Tuesday's Tiff**

Laura stood in line with Nathan, waiting to get popcorn for the matinee showing of "Lady and the Tramp", when she noticed a familiar pair strolling toward the theater.

"Hey, Evan!" she called out, his head snapping around to look at her.

He quickly crossed the lobby, with Emily in tow, a grin on his face. She couldn't help but notice that the dimples she'd seen hints of at the zoo.

"Hi Laura," he said, before glancing down at Nathan. "Hey Nathan, are you excited about the movie?" he asked.

Nodding the little boy practically radiated excitement. "Lady an the Tramp's my favorite!" he replied happily.

Evan grinned when Emily concurred heartily, the two quickly getting into a spirited debate about the movie. "Well, looks like they'll be busy for a bit." He said, glancing at Laura.

"Yeah. You know, I didn't expect to run into you at the Trapier's Tuesday Toons." She said with a teasing hint.

"Emily and I try to come whenever we can." He said with a smile. "So uh, if you guys wanted, there's a couple of empty seats in the theater by us…"

Laura frowned for a moment, considering his statement. "Are you sure your wife would want me to sit with you guys?" she asked, instantly regretting it when she saw a flash of pain in Evan's eyes.

"No, she won't mind." He said, a little too quickly making her regret the question more.

Unsure what to say, she opened her mouth to speak, "Are you sure?" she ended up asking, blushing profusely at the question.

"Yeah." Evan dropped his voice looking over at Emily before turning back to Laura. "Jane died when Emily was one." He said simply.

"Oh uh…" Laura trailed off awkwardly, glancing around the lobby again. "You know we'll just, uh, find our own seats…" she said as she finally reached the counter.

As Laura carried a sleeping Nathan out of the theater, she glanced around but didn't see Evan or Emily. Fumbling with her car keys she tried to open her car door one handed.

"Here, let me get that for you." Evan said as he walked up next to her.

"No, no, it's fine." She said, trying to open the door again.

Evan gently took the keys from her hand and opened the door. "There you go." He said with a grin. "Look, I'm sorry I was so short earlier. I just don't talk about Jane much."

Laura settled Nathan into his car seat before turning to look at him. "It's okay, I was…prying." She said shutting her door.

Evan sighed but didn't respond, turning to open his SUV's door.

"I guess we'll probably see you around." She said, glancing at him over the top of her car.

"Guess so…" Evan said with a smile as he climbed into his SUV and drove away.


	4. Bumper Basher

**Bumper Basher**

Evan reached over and punched a button on his radio, sighing as he eyed the red light. Suddenly there was a loud crunch and his SUV jolted forward. "Great, just what I need today." He muttered to himself.

Sighing he put the SUV into park and got out to inspect the damage, glad it wasn't rush hour. As he approached the back bumper he stopped in shock when he saw the other driver get out of the car.

"Laura?" he asked wide eyed, the woman in question blushing profusely.

"Evan?" she squeaked, eyeing him before glancing at their bumpers. "I am so, so sorry. I don't know what happened." She said quickly, looking at him.

Walking over Evan inspected the damage before returning, holding up a hand to stem her apologies. "Look, it's okay. It's not a big deal." He said softly.

"Yes it is!" Laura replied with a glare. "I mean you could have been hurt."

Evan sighed, laying a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, no one was hurt, it happens all the time." Squeezing lightly he smiled at her. "Look Emily's not with me and I'm fine," he paused glancing into her back seat before continuing, "Nathan's not with you and you're fine. This is exactly what insurance is for."

Sighing, Laura considering his logic. "But I…" she started to say.

"No. No buts Laura. Look if you're so worried about it, you can do me a favor."

Laura regarded him for a moment before speaking, "What kind of favor? You aren't going to have me hide a body or something right?" she asked, with a laugh.

"No, nothing like that. There's this great little Chinese place around the corner. Have dinner with me?" he replied.

Laura blushed for a moment, he really liked it when she did, he thought to himself.

"Sure I guess I can do that." She finally answered with a smile.

"Great." Evan said. "You can follow me." He squeezed her shoulder before returning to his car door. "Just don't follow too close." Evan shot teasingly over his shoulder before climbing in and driving toward the restaurant.

**The End**


End file.
